Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov

NOVO-OGARYOVO, July 30. /ITAR-TASS/. Russia’s new offshore taxation rules will yield about $1 billion in tax revenues for state coffers annually, Finance Minister Anton Siluanov said on Wednesday.

The document, which has been elaborated by the Finance Ministry and will be submitted to parliament after its discussion in the Russian government in August, will oblige Russian tax residents to pay taxes on all of their revenues in Russia instead of hiding them in offshore jurisdictions. The finance minister said this at a meeting of the Russian president with the government.

Up to $50 billion is channeled annually from Russia into Cyprus and the Netherlands alone, of which Russian tax residents’ revenues account for about a half of this amount,” the finance minister said.

The agreements on avoiding double taxation, which Russia has signed with many countries, stipulate concessional taxation regimes, the finance minister said.

“Entrepreneurs are taking advantage of this, without disclosing information on beneficiaries and on how legitimately these privileges are used,” the finance minister said.

“We say that entrepreneurs can use these privileges only after they disclose such information and we can establish the final recipients of revenues and whether they have paid taxes to the Russian budget,” the finance minister said.